I wasn’t one of the guy who latched onto the Grand Theft Auto series when it first hit big in the late 1990s. Instead, I came along in 2002 when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City first was released, and I burned away my 20s trying to get 100% completion on the console title as well as all of its sequels (and eventually, GTA: III). Man did I love that game.

But the GTA series on iOS has been a bit more finicky for me. GTA: III was too difficult to control, and I never saw the appeal in Chinatown Wars. At the time, I chalked it up to my awkwardness with a virtual controller combined with a faulty UI, but Rockstar promised that all that went away with the 10-year anniversary release of GTA: Vice City on iOS. Did they succeed in making the classic game fun to play on a touchscreen device, or is it just more of the same? Let’s find out after the jump. (more…)

Beat-’em-up games have sort of a base appeal. While playing them, you essentially keep hitting things until there are no more things to hit. Along the way, you might integrate strategy to achieve this task faster or find ways to hit harder, but the formulas found in these games — especially when it comes to enemy attacks — keep them mindlessly simple, unrivaled fun that probably encourages violent behavior in the real world.

Ah, well.

Several games surround their brawls with heroic stories of saving the day and rescuing enslaved denizens of fictional cities. Not Beatdown. The premise in this punch-packing bout is all about revenge. If you’re ready to take out some aggression, Beatdown might just be the game for you. Find out why after the jump.

It’s hard to say exactly what it is about Pudding Monsters that makes it so addictive and so easy on the eyes, since it scores high marks all around. You could chalk it up to slick 3-D graphics, the cute characters, the smooth animation, the pleasantly quirky sound effects, and of course, the simple-yet-not-so-simple puzzles.

But really it’s the balance of all of the above that makes the game such a winner. Like my favorite Pixar films that I can watch over and over, Pudding Monsters is a game that makes me smile every time I play. (more…)

Long a favorite on Facebook, Candy Crush Saga has made the jump to iOS. With awesome pieces of candy instead of stupid old jewels, Candy Crush Saga follows the same gameplay as Bejeweled: switch two candies to make a three-in-a-row match. Create special matches and you’ll get power boosts. Clear enough candy in time, and you win the round. But does it take more than sweet, sweet candy to make a game really stand out? Not in my experience, but let’s find out. (more…)

As winter approaches, I’ve begun the time-honored tradition of spending large chunks of my time sitting inside, sipping on a warm coffee- or tea-based beverage, and getting addicted to as many games as possible. These days, we tend to put most games into two main categories. First, you have your longer, in-depth games that you can really sink your time into. Second, you have a subset of games that the iTunes App Store lovingly refers to as “5 Minute Fixes,” or games that you can pick up for a few minutes at a time, perhaps in line at the store or while riding a bus.

What is often overlooked in the area of game reviews (particularly for platforms like iOS) is that quick-fix games and time-sucking games are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Today I’m going to look at Esoteric Development‘s puzzler Box 2 Box — a deceptively simplistic game whose level-based design makes it good for short, segmented bursts of play, but where the increasing level difficulty can make for maddening, time-sucking fun. (more…)

The weekend before Christmas is upon us, friends. Since everyone is out doing some last-minute shopping and wrapping, you may find yourself with some time to kill in lineups or while waiting for your sweetheart to pass the tape dispenser.

Just in time, we’ve got our picks for this week’s top new App Store games. Grab a few and enjoy — they make good stocking stuffers too, so don’t forget you can gift them! (more…)

If there’s one thing that can be said of gamers it’s that they love to do a little world-saving every now and then. The thrill of a life-in-the-balance adventure is enough to get the heart pounding and the instincts on edge.

Verticus delivers on both sensations, pushing the player’s reaction times to their limits and almost daring them to stay calm as the hero plummets to the Earth’s core.

Can this free-falling adrenaline rush push players to the peak of excitement and performance? Find out — appropriately — after the jump. (more…)

Despite the many technological and social advances made so far in the 21st century, there are some areas in the entertainment industry seemingly undergoing a period of stagnation. The number of rehashes and remakes of classic film and gaming brands is ever increasing with largely mixed-to-negative results. Such failures beg the question of whether original works can be bettered? If Conquist 2 is anything to go by there may be hope yet.

Military strategy games have always been amongst my favourites, whether it be the classic board game Risk or the legendary Command & Conquer series. Conquist 2 takes direct influence from the former, Risk, boldly mimicking the title’s famous premise and daring to try and better it. Can it succeed? Or is another rehash destined to fail? Stick around to find out more! (more…)